Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

I read commentary or Twitter or blogs and realize that there are also strongly held convictions that there are these evil VCs who do terrible things to mostly altruistic founders. And of course we help with business development introductions and with fund raising events. Often we are asked to get involved in executive-level recruiting.

Cofounder 217

Cofounder Stock Options Equity Technical Review 217

David Teten

DECEMBER 2, 2019

Now the bad news: some venture capitallists have a bias against startups with an explicit positive social impact, on the grounds that they have a smaller addressable market, and that the founders are not sufficiently focused on creating shareholder wealth. If you think I’ve missed any, please contact me. Future Labs Flash Pitch. “For

Technical Review 60

Technical Review SBIR Dilution Silicon Valley 60

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 5, 2010

I believe it is the best introduction to Customer Development you can buy. As all of you know, Steve Blank is the progenitor of Customer Development and author of The Four Steps to the Epiphany. I have personally sold many copies of his book, and continue to recommend it as one of the most important books a startup founder can read.

Customer Development 166

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 166

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. By tying payments to actual revenues, founders and investors remain aligned around the company’s real-time performance, good or bad.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

The Next Web

OCTOBER 3, 2012

Andrew is the co-founder and CTO of Parse.ly , a technology startup that provides big data insights to the web’s best publishers. He wrote: When startups die, the official cause of death is always either running out of money or a critical founder bailing. Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Andrew Montalenti.

Cofounder 155

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Technical Review Software Review 155

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

If you have a technical background and you are focused on product development, consider a co-founder with a sales and marketing background that can focus on selling your world class product. This helps to better divide the work, make people accountable, and show investors just why each founder/hire is key to the organization.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

As the idea went from innovating on software & systems to launching a company to rolling it out in the field brought on Rahul Gandhi as his co-founder to physically launch the company. Sam & Rahul have worked closely together on “innovate & operate” since the earliest days of MakeSpace. Seriously, this happens.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Alternative Capital. “

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2013

One of the challenges for investing in startups has always been the lack of an established way for founders and investors to actually measure and decide on the valuation of the startup concerned. “If you are an angel investor and a venture is seeking capital from you, insist on getting its Worthworm report.

Pre-Money Valuation 150

Pre-Money Valuation Web Technical Review Angel Investor 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2021

A popular myth these days is that finishing college only dilutes your entrepreneurial instincts, and the best of the best, including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, dropped out early to hasten their success. I agree with Robert E. Don’t forget business writing and communication. Then branch out to local business groups.

Entrepreneur 373

Entrepreneur Chad Incubator Dilution 373

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

According to Lee M Von Kraus, PHD and a mentor at Clarity.fm, “Early stage startups are usually pre-money startup that are bootstrapping the early development of a product.”. You are looking for cofounders that can help you build a product. You have finally found a cofounder that can take care of the startup. Commitment.

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

years ago and told me, “I just got offered the chance to buy this company because the founder doesn’t want to continue. I can save tons of development time and I think I can buy it for all equity. How much dilution should I take for it?&# My friend’s company was pre-revenue. Me: “Zero dilution.

Merger 276

Merger Technical Review Early Stage Dilution 276

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 16, 2016

By Bryan Miles, CEO and co-founder, Miles Advisory Group, Inc. But take it from what a good friend and advisor once said to me: “Ego is dilutive to net worth.”. Bryan Miles is CEO & co-founder of Miles Advisory Group, Inc. When businesses begin booming, that’s typically a good thing.

Cofounder 100

Cofounder Balance Sheet Small Business Administration Technical Review 100

thinkspace.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

How to Divide Equity to Startup Founders, Advisors, and Employees. The part that I’d like to zero in on is when you’ve got a high growth company what are some of the best practices out there to distribute equity to the founders, advisors, and employees? Equity for Founders. Should founders have anti-dilution rights?

Equity 62

Equity Employee Founder CTO Hire 62

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

What is it, and how should founders think about it? note: We’d like to be extra clear that founders should not take on venture debt if they don’t have 100% visibility into repaying the loan, as banks that need to recoup their loan my force the company or you as the guarantor into liquidation or bankruptcy.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Agile VC

JULY 11, 2012

The names of these once great, now defunct firms may not be terribly familiar today but here are just a few examples: American Research & Development [Boston] –> Founded by George Doriot and depending how you count it, either the first or second formal VC firm in the US. But it’s not quite that simple. link] Fred Destin.

Silicon Valley 240

Silicon Valley Carried Interest Cofounder Boston 240

ReadWriteStart

JULY 18, 2011

Clavier began his presentation at the beginning of a company's lifecycle, asking how many co-founders a startup ought to have. He says that one is too lonely, two is good and three is a great number if they can combine their skills to cover design, development and distribution. Are all co-founders equal, Clavier asked?

Investment Bankers 153

Investment Bankers Technical Review Cofounder Due Diligence 153

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 4, 2023

Joe Flanagan, Founder, 90s Fashion World No, Too Many Lenders While the idea of sourcing capital from multiple smaller sources is an enticing one, the reality is far less pleasant. Inbar Madar , Founder and Business Consultant, M.I. Sasha Quail , Business Development Manager, claims.co.uk

Startup 141

Startup Campaign Cofounder Venture Capital 141

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018

First, Felicis Ventures is committing 1% on top of every check the firm writes in non-dilutive capital earmarked for “founder development” in coaching and mental health. ” Next, Mahendra Ramsinghani has a long article in Techcrunch titled Investors are waking up to the emotional struggle of startup founders.

Founder 116

Founder Cofounder Dilution Email 116

www.avc.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

To be clear, these are hires we are talking about, not co-founders. Co-founders are an entirely different discussion and I am not talking about them in this post. We have developed a formula that we like to use for this purpose. The other important data point is the number of fully diluted shares.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

JANUARY 9, 2014

No clear vision or purpose This should be the starting point for any startup founder, but it’s often overlooked. I recently developed a more human framework for early-stage startups to define their startup DNA and lay some foundations for a sustainable business. By focusing on the ‘why?’

Early Stage 102

Early Stage Startup Cofounder Design 102

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 28, 2018

A popular myth these days is that finishing college only dilutes your entrepreneurial instincts, and the best of the best, including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, dropped out early to hasten their success. I agree with Robert E. Don’t forget business writing and communication. Then branch out to local business groups.

Chad 242

Chad Incubator Startup Dilution 242

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 7, 2022

Marcel is the CEO & Co-Founder of Parakeeto, a company dedicated to helping agencies measure and improve their profitability by streamlining their operations and reporting systems. I'm gonna lease you this, you know, cross-functional development team. Marketing Podcast with Marcel Petitpas. It's 10 grand, every two weeks.

Cofounder 76

Cofounder Hosting Networking Software Review 76

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

I know that some founders feel uncomfortable with this as though they might somehow be sharing something so confidential that it ultimately hurts you. If a VC prices a flat or down round it means that management teams are often taking too much dilution. Why shouldn’t most founders just name a price? After all?—?we

Valuation 324

Valuation Post-Money Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 324

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

For starters let me use “CEO” as a proxy to include her “inner circle” which might mean co-founders or might just mean senior execs of the business. The Mind of the Founder. The mind of a founder is wired differently than most people. The startup CEO was not the original founder.

Startup 417

Startup Dilution San Diego Stock Options 417

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

Because at least while the VC spigot is open and flowing for high-potential individuals that fit a pattern that some VCs seem to favor they can access cheap capital that isn’t terribly dilutive and can use the to fund development and swing for the fences with limited focus on monetization. And the dilution that goes with it.

Burn Rate 412

Burn Rate Dilution Revenue Valuation 412

Andrew Payne

SEPTEMBER 9, 2017

If an early very experienced developer has 1%, and a less senior dev has 0.5%, those become two reference points for the next dev hire. But, how should founders divide things up in the very beginning , where none of these internal reference points exist? And, how can founders talk about percentages before any funding?

Equity 71

Equity Founder Vesting Dilution 71

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

A popular myth these days is that finishing college only dilutes your entrepreneurial instincts, and the best of the best, including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, dropped out early to hasten their success. I agree with Robert E. Don’t forget business writing and communication. Then branch out to local business groups.

Chad 279

Chad Incubator Dilution LLC 279

The Next Web

AUGUST 19, 2013

He is the co-­founder and CEO of Quote Roller and PandaDoc. It’s always better to be earn money, not just raise it, as money you earn doesn’t dilute your ownership and reassures your investors. It’s always better to be earn money, not just raise it, as money you earn doesn’t dilute your ownership and reassures your investors.

Belarus 137

Belarus Viral Channel Startup 137

Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 17, 2021

Greylock investor Sridhar Ramaswamy , who co-founded search engine startup Neeva , says it’s more important for startups to think about creating a product that is useful and resonates with people before worrying about whether a large incumbent is doing it. So as a founder, how should you respond to this competitive effect? TRANSCRIPT.

Cofounder 69

Cofounder Differentiation Search Advertising 69

Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 17, 2021

Greylock investor Sridhar Ramaswamy , who co-founded search engine startup Neeva , says it’s more important for startups to think about creating a product that is useful and resonates with people before worrying about whether a large incumbent is doing it. So as a founder, how should you respond to this competitive effect? TRANSCRIPT.

Cofounder 69

Cofounder Differentiation Search Advertising 69

thestartuplawyer.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder. He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder. You can start by examining every aspect of the co-founder relationship. Don’t leave anything out just because you and your co-founders already talked about it.

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Founder Preferred Stock Startup 40

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 26, 2009

Anyone who has worked in a real-world product development team can tell you how utopian that sounds. They had their own private forum, and a company founder (aka me) personally ran the group in its early days. Every time you listen to customers, you fear diluting your vision. One example is having a real Customer Advisory Board.

Advisory Board 151

Advisory Board Customer San Francisco Lean 151

Austin Startup

JANUARY 11, 2020

Capital Factory’s Saturday Startup Spotlight series, where we chat with an exciting new startup and get to know their story, returns this week with the co-founder and CEO of TaxTaker : Ari Palmer. It’s now the #1 non-dilutive source of capital for businesses to continue to grow and scale, but it’s highly overlooked.

CPA 62

CPA Startup Non-Compete Cofounder 62

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

I firmly believe that in this age where the product development life-cycle is so short and user feedback comes so quickly, you will know within a year whether you are focusing on a worthwhile one thing. Have amazing co-founders who are better at what they do than you could ever be. If you cannot gain traction in 1 year, pivot.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Technology Software Review Valuation 108

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Research & Development. Chip Morse , cofounder and partner with Morse, Barnes-Brown & Pendleton P.C., Besides the future potential earnings youre forgoing, youre also diluting your own ownership in the company. TECHNOLOGY. Internet and Online Business. Business Software. Computer Security. Telecom and Wireless. Technology.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2016

A popular myth these days is that finishing college only dilutes your entrepreneurial instincts, and the best of the best, including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, dropped out early to hasten their success. I agree with Robert E. Don’t forget business writing and communication. Then branch out to local business groups.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Chad Incubator Dilution 120